Sorry, Buddy - New Painting by Derek Cadena

 Last week I had another sleepless night. I was lying in bed thinking about driving around taking pictures of people doing what they do. Soon, I was up and dressed and driving by the corner gas station, the Bradley at 50th and Federal.  It was around 5:50 A.M., and I knew that I could always count on a rich display of sketchy peeps on this block. I quickly took a few photos and went home to start painting.  The painting is a familiar scene of a beggar and a rich man. If I have money in my pocket I usually hand it to people who ask for it. The "rich" man (who looks a lot like Ed McMahon) is obviously in a hurry and can't be bothered by the guy with the cart, which I have to say is the best shopping cart I've ever painted.


Sorry, Buddy and a few other new paintings will hang at The Market on Larimer Square for the month of September. If you're in Denver, go check it out, eat a sandwich, have a latte and enjoy some killer desserts while you decide which painting to buy. Make sure to have plenty of coin in your pocket for meters and nice people who need a little help.

The Howards for Nordstrom

I'm packing and getting ready to ship the paintings off to Nordstrom's Seattle office.  I thought I would show off the three 16x20 Howard paintings.  The original 8x10 Howard was the first painting they bought from me two years ago, they really love him...

I also painted a boxer "Ramon", which they are still considering on purchasing. I hope they do!

Beefing Up Nordstrom's Walls!

I've been so busy that I haven't posted in a month! I've finished most of the work I'm doing for Nordstrom. Their store planning and architecture department purchased a painting from me two years ago, which I was very excited about at the time! Then, just a couple months ago they got back with me and commissioned 7 paintings for a few of their remodeled stores.  My paintings will hang with a collection of other work, mostly vintage male portraits and landscapes completing a wall collage in each men's sportswear department. Shown here is an example of a wall they had previously done sans Cadena...

The designer wanted a more youthful and cheery wall layout and liked my cheesy beach boys pumping iron by the sea and said that these paintings would be perfect for some of their beach town stores, one of the stores being Westside Pavilion in LA.  So, I painted two of Beach Flex and two of Beach Pump, all 18x24 oil paintings. The two Beach Flex are the first image.

 I gotta get back to work, I'll show the rest in my next post.

Goy Paints Jewish Calendar

This is the second part of my two-part post on working with Scott Lyon on the permanent exhibit recently installed at the Mizel Museum in Denver.


This past Spring I was invited by Scott to help paint, fabricate and install pieces of the exhibit titled 4,000 Year Road Trip: Gathering Sparks. I was given the task and huge privilege of illustrating the large Jewish Calendar that hangs in the Synagogue. I had some concerns when I started, one being that I am not Jewish! I didn't know bubbe from bupkes... Although, now I know not to get the two confused.

The Jewish calendar is only similar to the Gregorian calendar in that it has twelve months. The months are lunar, which I painted a band of moon phases corresponding with observed religious holidays and their months.  Each month starts with a new moon, the first month is Nisan. Passover is celebrated in Nisan. Pictured here is a detail of the months with moons and seasons of the calendar.

 My favorite symbol that I painted here of the holidays is the Sukkah in the upper right corner of the banner, which is the wooden structure with twigs and fruit hanging from it. Sukkot is the harvest holiday celebrated in the middle of the month Tishre or Tisheri (roughly October).  Many Hebrew words have different spellings, which I was often told to change... I'm just the goy with a brush. Like the rest of the exhibit, I painted this banner in a colorful whimsical style. Here is a detail of the top half of the banner with the Sukkah.

You'll have to go the Mizel Museum if want to see the full calendar and all the other wonderful exhibit pieces. I had a blast working with Scott and the Mizel folks for those last six months, but the project is done and it's time to move on.  Now, I have seven paintings (possibly more) commissioned by Nordstrom to complete in the next six weeks. The paintings are for several store remodels. I'll be painting vintage looking mid-century styled athletic male portraits in oil for Nordstrom's menswear/sportswear department. I'm VERY excited, it's my biggest client ever! I'll keep you posted.

Derek

Western Spaghetti - By Derek Cadena

Western Spaghetti is a grouping of four mixed media paintings commissioned by a friend of mine.  She and her husband had just painted their living room and were in need of wall art.  I decided the painting(s) should start with a horse and a cowboy.  She grew up with horses, and I thought it would be fun to incorporate a graphic image of a running horse.  For the cowboy, I used an image of the 40 Ft. concrete cowboy that guards the entrance to the Rustic Ranch trailer park on Federal Blvd. here in Denver, CO.  This big bow legged horse jockey has made his appearance in a few recent art projects.  I must have a bit of a crush on him...

Here's a picture of Western Spaghetti.  And, the rustic ranch guardian cowboy.

Mighty Tonka Giclee Prints - by Derek Cadena

The original "Still Mighty" recently sold, however, I have two sizes of Still Mighty stretched canvas giclee prints now available in our online stores.  The sizes are: 8x10 and 16x20.  Each size of this print series has a edition size of 25.  The retail prices are: $75 and $149.  Contact me for purchase info, or click here to visit the 8x10 ad.

A Couple of Joes - by Derek Cadena

My most recent still life painting has two G.I. Joes posing with a P.B.R. beer can. Just a couple of Joes having a beer... in the nude.  I don't see any military policy violations happening...

Click here to visit the Joes ebay ad.

Go Joe!!!

A Quick Study of 1964 G.I. Joe by Derek Cadena

I bought a couple of busted up old Joes on ebay this week.  They have no clothes or guns, and one Joe is missing most of his left arm.  They do have some pretty sweet beards and almost all of their hair, however, they smell like decades of musty basement storage.  I had to have them in the studio, they're great art manikins!  Here is a 45 minute study on a 5x7 panel of the first Joe.  Click here to see ebay ad for Joe!

Easy Rider - Still Life of Potato, Onion, and Limes by Derek Cadena

This produce was born to be wild!  I like to play with my food... I used bamboo skewers to attach two bad limes to a potato, then, I carefully balanced the unruly onion on top of the potato chopper.   I was proud of the food sculpture.  I love that the potato has a star shaped sprout on its side, it helped me form the "Captain America" color palette of the background. 

Easy Rider is for sale in our ebay store.

A Painting A Day - Still life of Mighty Tonka by Derek Cadena

A couple of weeks ago, Brent's father dropped off a well used Tonka truck that was, once, Brent's favorite toy.  It's beautiful! And now, it's the studio mascot/art caddy, holding brushes and other art making tools.   I had to paint the Mighty Tonka!  You can see the ad for this original painting listed on ebay, and I will be offering larger Giclee canvas prints of this painting on etsy in the very near future.

 

A Painting A Day - new sexy onion paintings by Derek Cadena

I have recently been painting a new small work a day, M-F.   A painting a day is a great discipline, and let's face it, I lack discipline!   I've really been inspired by the onions sprouting and mingling on the kitchen counter.   My latest work features still life paintings of onions sharing stories of their most intimate, heroic, and terrifying moments...

Here are the first two 2010 oil paintings that I painted on Friday 01- 22 and Monday 01- 25,
 "Fondling" and "Tea Cupping".  See our ebay store.

Growing Inspiration From Seed

Hungry for inspiration, I looked in the unruly backyard veggie garden... And I have found that bugs, snails, and/or slugs have been feasting on the enormous crisp blue cabbage leaves... Leaving me no choice, but to illustrate! I imagine a glutenous orgy of slimy translucent moonlit critters gorging themselves (while I sleep). So I have made a quick "shop-sketch" to base a large oil painting from, I have so many creatures to create, I can't wait to get started! I will keep posting as I work through this FUN new project!

Cheers,
Derek

Our NEW 2LF Art Studio Website Is On!

I haven't posted in almost a month, but not because the Two Little Fruits have been slacking! Brent has designed one pretty website, it is now live, however it is still (and forever) under construction... check it out HERE.

We're still getting work done for the Root Down Restaurant and Bar, the third piece, which is shown here, has been a lot of work, but it's definitely becoming more kick-ass everyday... Tonight the BBC show "What Not to Wear" is filming at the Root Down Bar, which we signed a release for our artwork to be filmed... We're fully excited! (^_^)
( a post with the show's air date will soon follow)

Rock out,
Derek

Working on "Promiscuous girls are not nice girls"

This mixed media painting has some very fun components! I love the text, I got it from a 50's fitness magazine...
The next article asks: Is Smoking Harmful?


Check out the ebay ad for this reckless bunch of youngsters here.

Cheers,
Derek

The Birth of a Watery Tart.

I started a new painting inspired by a daydream about my upcoming Summer road trip to the coast. The ocean breeze, collecting seashells, and hopefully mermaids. I really don't know where this painting is heading, but I am having a good time! I'll keep you posted as she pops out of the water.

Cheers,
Derek